Happy Marketer Living Up To Its Name

Sophie Blackmore had, like many people, toyed with the idea of launching her own business over the years but the idea became reality in September 2020.

The mum-of-three was made redundant from her marketing position at a business which manufactured instruments when its income was substantially affected by Covid-19.

Sophie decided to take the plunge and use part of her redundancy package to register the Happy Marketer at Companies House.

Wind forward to May 2022 and the Happy Marketer has a string of clients from Devon to Edinburgh as her blend of expertise is helping small businesses, consultants and entrepreneurs promote their services successfully.

The Challenge

Sophie knew the services she wanted to offer. Firstly, plug-in marketing services to small businesses to create a strategy to help with their marketing tactics including social media, search engine optimisation ranking or content creation because they don’t have the time or resources.

Secondly, to offer a ‘Happy Hour’ with a difference so business owners either just starting out, or still a team of one, can chat to Sophie to seek her advice or help with a particular marketing problem.

But she also knew she needed help and support with the basics of running a business from her family home in Nuneaton.

After finding out about the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub from a neighbour, she got in touch and has never looked back.

The Solution

Laura Delahunty, Linda Savitri and Louise Wright, Business Navigators at the Growth Hub, helped Sophie to access start-up support and mentoring from the team at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

She secured 12 hours’ free support to put together a three-year business plan to give the Happy Marketer a structure for the short and long-term.

That involved taking part in a webinar which explained step-by-step how to write a business plan which also gave Sophie the reassurance she was heading in the right direction.

She has also been able to access work from the Growth Hub who have introduced her to some of their clients who they thought would benefit from her services.

Russell Grant from the Chamber became Sophie’s mentor and encouraged her to join marketing and networking groups to market her own business.

The Result

Sophie has built a network of clients locally and nationally and is working full-time on the Happy Marketer.

She said: “I chose the name Happy Marketer because I am a very positive, supportive person so I am quite literally a happy marketer, but also because by association people who work with me become happier and more confident marketers too.

“I become an extension of their team because when business owners are busy running their company, marketing can become bottom of the priority list or they’ve reached their limit of knowledge or time themselves. This is where I come in to deliver the strategy we agree.

“I am working with a lot of manufacturing and IT SMEs and I think it is because these companies are often very technical-minded and tend to find it easier to ask a marketer to help communicate their product or service in an easy-to-understand way.

“I have found the common denominator of the companies I work with are they are well established but have not yet reached a point where they need to recruit an employee with an expertise in marketing – I’ll have done my job well when they outgrow me and take the next step.

“The Happy Marketer has grown organically and I’m absolutely loving it. I have joined Coventry and Warwickshire Champions, Business Buzz in Coventry, another networking group called Mums in Marketing, and Marketing Meet-up.

“I also used part of my redundancy package to complete an MBA in Marketing so it is really useful to have a formal qualification for all the knowledge I have built up during the last 15 years I have been involved in the industry.

“The support and guidance from the Growth Hub and the Chamber of Commerce has been really useful and it is great to know they are there every step of the way when you are starting out on your business adventure – I always refer other business owners to them.”

The CWLEP Growth Hub

The CWLEP Growth Hub, which is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), was established by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership to provide a one-stop shop to help make businesses aware of the advice and support available to them.

The Growth Hub proactively helps businesses grow by providing access to private sector professionals with commercial experience in a whole host of fields including marketing, finance, IT, training and logistics.

The Growth Hub has experts in various fields to help companies access grants and funding to diversify or expand by providing introductions to a range of services and support from other organisations across the region.

The Growth Hub offers help with:

• Access to finance
• Business Innovation
• Business Support
• International Trade Advisers
• Skills4Growth
• Inward Investment
• Planning
• Supply chain opportunities

Partners involved include the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, UKTI, Local Authorities across the sub-region, Coventry University and the University of Warwick.

For further information, email or telephone 0300 060 3747.